6th: Hannibal (2013 – present, NBC)

Hannibal is a psychological thriller-horror TV series based on the “Red Dragon” novel by Thomas Harris. The story is centred on Will Graham (Hugh Dancy), a gifted criminal profiler, who is asked to join a FBI investigation by Jack Crawford (Lawrence Fishburne). Despite being the most helpful team member, Will’s instability makes him the main suspect in a series of gruesome crimes and so he is sent to doctor Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen), a brilliant psychologist who ironically is a cannibal.

The Cat among the Pigeons

Now part of the team, apparently to aid it in its investigation, Hannibal does his best to wipe out his traces and put the blame of his murders on Will. He goes even to the lengths of blackmailing, killing more innocent people and even taking away Will’s best support, doctor Alana Bloom (Caroline Dhavernas).

The only ones remaining by Will Graham’s side are his dogs and special agent Beverly Katz (Hattienne Park), who also tries to get Jack by their side. But Hannibal knows how to play his cards and in the cat and mouse game with his frenemy Will, it is hard to say who will win.Hannibal Lecter

The Beauty and the Grotesque

Hannibal excels in the visual arts with its stunning images, being something that has never been on TV before, but full of violent, although artistic, imagery.

Whether we talk about Will Graham’s visions of the murders, the crime scenes themselves, Hannibal’s majestic cooking skills, which leave the audience mesmerized and conflicted with the idea that those mouth-watering delicacies are supposed to be made out of human flesh, and the dark chromatics, the visuals have surely brought the series many awards. And with the cast’s amazing acting skills is no wonder that the fans have wept because of the third season’s delay.


5th: The Vampire Diaries (2009 – present, The CW)

The Vampire Diaries is an American supernatural TV series created by Julie Plec based on L.J. Smith’s eponymous book series. The story is set in Mystic Falls, a small town where the orphaned teenager Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev) lives.

Life in Mystic Falls was quite boring, but when the Salvatore brothers Stefan (Paul Wesley) and Damon (Ian Somerhalder) move in, the town becomes flooded by supernatural creatures and magic, because the boys are nothing but vampires who both fall in love with Elena.

Ready, Set, Magic!tv series The Vampire Diaries

As if it were not enough for Elena that her parents died, she discovers that her crush Stefan is a 100 year-old vampire, his demonic brother Damon is obsessed with her, she looks exactly like their past vampire lover, her best friend (Kat Graham) is the descendant of a witch and a witch herself and that things do not stop there.

With vampires walking in the sun, antique immortals appearing from all the corners of the world and people dying and coming back to life, it is a wonder that Elena does not become insane herself. While not a quite strong character, she does manage to cope with all her changes in her life and constantly being in danger.

What’s up next?

Currently at its sixth season with over 120 aired episodes and with a spin-off – The Originals – The Vampire Diaries is doing great. Praised for the portrayal and development of the characters of Elena, Bonnie (Graham) and Caroline (Candice Accola), the series has won countless awards and is for sure a fan favourite. But the latest news worried the fandom.

With the main actress Nina Dobrev leaving after the sixth season and with main actor Paul Wesley not very excited to continue playing Stefan, the series risks a huge downfall.

For the sake of the fans and of those who might want to start watching it, let’s hope that things will work out.


4th: Sherlock (2010 – present, BBC)

Sherlock is a modern crime drama adaptation of the famous Sherlock Holmes detective stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle created by Steven Moffat and Mark Gattis – better known as writers for Doctor Who – and featuring Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes, Martin Freeman as Doctor John Watson and Andrew Scott as the infamous Moriarty.

In this version, Sherlock Holmes is aided in his mysteries by the recent returned from military service Watson, while the doctor documents their adventures on his blog, action that makes Holmes unwillingly quite famous.

Sherlock and Watson

Old enemies. Faithful foes.

The series depicts an entire variety of crimes – based more or less on the original Sherlock Holmes stories – such as a Russian roulette with pills, a break-in at a bank, the death of an employee of the government and others,behind which it seems to be the one and only constant nemesis –James “Jim” Moriarty.

Moriarty played various roles – he was an informant, a sponsor and the most important, a mastermind. Obsessed with Sherlock, he does anything possible to “motivate” the detective into solving his mysteries, but that does not save him from becoming his main target when the evil genius loses interest.

Supernatural Patience

Despite being on the small screen since 2010, BBC’s Sherlock has a total number of only 9 episodes. With a distance of two years between the first two seasons and with a run of 3 weeks per season, the fans of this series have to suffer a great deal until they finally get a new episode. But the creators do have an excuse for the small amount of episodes and for the long wait.

Unlike other TV series which have episodes of 20-40 minutes, Sherlock’s episodes are produced as movies of one hour and a half. And let’s be honest – who releases 3 movies of the same franchise in one year?

But with Benedict Cumberbatch signed up for two more seasons, at least we can be sure that our happiness of seeing him as Sherlock won’t end too soon and neither will our pain during the long wait.


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